Federal Parole Condition Denying Parolee Contact with His Minor Daughter Upheld by In January of 2004, Gregory Smith completed a 10-year sentence for drug and firearm violations. His parole officer ordered him to stay away from his minor daughter. Even so, he went to several schools looking for her and …
Disabled Prisoner Claim Not Actionable Under Federal Civil Rights Action by State prisoner Timothy Reaves filed a State court action alleging claims under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the U.S. and Massachusetts Constitutions. Reaves is a quadriplegic with a brain injury suffered in a …
FBI Mob Murder Claim Filed Too Late by The First Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the dismissal of a Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) claim against the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for a 1982 murder. John Callahan was the chief executive officer of World Jai Alai, a gambling organization …
Massachusetts Prisoner Beaten By Guards Awarded $21,000 by In August 1997, a court in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, awarded $21,000 to a state prisoner who was severely beaten by prison guards. The plaintiff prisoner claimed that while imprisoned in May 1991 he was shackled, handcuffed, kneed, and spat on by a …
Qualified Immunity for Sex Offender Cavity Searches by The plaintiff sex offenders alleged that they were harassed because of their status and were subject to retaliatory body cavity searches. Injunctive relief was not appropriate because there was no allegation that the misconduct was ongoing. Declaratory relief is inappropriate for the …
Court Enjoins BOP Prisoner Transfers from Work Release by The three petitioners moved to vacate their sentences on the ground that they had been imposed on the understanding that the petitioners would serve their short sentences of imprisonment in community correction centers, but the Department of Justice had subsequently decided …
BOP Prisoners Habeas Hepatitis Suit Dismissed by The bottom line of this opinion, 59 pages in Westlaw, is that the court treats the plaintiff's medical care claim, filed as a habeas petition, as a civil rights action, denies appointment of counsel, holds the prisoner partially exhausted, and grants summary judgment …
$205,000 Settlement in Massachusetts Strip Search Suit by On December 27, 2006, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts agreed to pay $205,000 to settle a class action lawsuit alleging hundreds of arrestees were illegally strip searched at the Hampshire Jail and House of Corrections between January 18, 2002 and November 7, 2002. …
Failure to Treat Rectal Cyst For 30 Months States Claim by The plaintiff had a cyst near his rectum. One doctor refused to examine him despite his complaints of pain. A second doctor said the cyst needed to be "lanced out" but did not do anything except provide medication for …
Record $3.2 Million Settlement for Wrongfully Imprisoned Massachusetts Man by Michael Rigby The City of Boston, Massachusetts, has agreed to pay $3.2 million to a man who spent 10 ½ years in prison for a rape he did not commit. The March 2006 settlement is believed to be the largest …
Wrongly Imprisoned Massachusetts Man Settles Suit Against City For $2,450,000 by On October 14, 2005, the City of Chicopee, Massachusetts, paid $2,450,000 to settle with a man who was falsely convicted of rape and imprisoned for 14 years before DNA evidence exonerated him. Eduardo Velazquez was convicted in 1987 of …
Massachusetts Prisoner Awarded $60,000 For Electrical Shock by In March 2005, a jury in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, awarded $60,000 to a state prisoner who was shocked by a faulty light fixture in his cell. As Michael Paolillo arose from a nap to urinate in his prison cell, he placed his …
Massachusetts Prisoners Battle MRSA, Untreated Hepatitis C by Michael Rigby Kerry M. Castello is infected with hepatitis C, a disease that is slowly destroying his liver. But because Massachusetts prison officials are short on funds, he cant get the treatment he desperately needs. Castello, 41, was first diagnosed with hepatitis …
Cell-Block Beatdown: Do Boston Prisoners Have Any Chance of Holding Abusive Prison Guards Responsible? Signs Are Not Promising by David S. Bernstein Cell-Block Beatdown: Do Boston Prisoners Have Any Chance of Holding Abusive Prison Guards Responsible? Signs Are Not Promising by David S. Bernstein Stories about prison guards beating up …
BOP Enjoined from Terminating Boot Camp Program by A Massachusetts federal district court has entered a preliminary injunction against the Bureau of Prisons (BOP), enjoining it from terminating its boot camp" incarceration program, pending compliance with the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), and requiring good faith consideration of the plaintiff for …
Civil Commitment of Massachusetts Sex Offenders Expanding by by Michael Rigby Massachusetts prosecutors are using recent changes in state law to expand the number of sex offenders imprisoned through civil commitment, and it's costing taxpayers millions. In 2004 and 2005, the Massachusetts legislature and Governor Mitt Romney greatly expanded the …
BOP's Failure to Provide Adequate Medical Treatment Nets Downward Departure Sentence by A Massachusetts federal district court has departed from the Federal Sentencing Guidelines because of the defendant's illness and the Bureau of Prisons' (BOP) failure to meet its burden that it could provide the most effective" medical treatment. Robert …
Massachusetts Prisoner Awarded $250,000 for Assault During Strip Search by On March 25, 2005, a federal jury awarded a Massachusetts prisoner $250,000 in damages for injuries sustained when he was assaulted by a guard during a strip search. Guards William Shugrue and a Jeffrey Padula were members all the Inner …
Massachusetts DOC Denies Two, Approves One, Same-Sex Marriages by Massachusetts DOC Denies Two, Approves One, Same-Sex Marriages by Matthew T. Clarke The Massachusetts Department of Corrections (DOC) has denied the request of two civilly-committed sex offenders to marry. It also denied a similar request by two other male prisoners, but …
What's Wrong With the ACA? by Elizabeth Alexander The American Correctional Association (ACA) is the largest and best-known organization of prison and jail staff in the country. It offers higher education programs designed to train prison industry professionals and, like a traditional professional association, it certifies persons as members in …
